It was the monarch's strongest words yet since tensions spiked in recent weeks between the two regional heavyweights.

Iran had a representative present at the 57-nation summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, but its top leadership did not attend.

The Islamic summit drew political figures and heads of state from countries spanning Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Despite sharp differences between OIC member-states on a gamut of issues, a final statement by the group stressed support for a future Palestinian state and rejected any deal or plan that prolongs Israeli "occupation" and undermines the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The language stood in contradiction to the Trump administration's 2018 decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing it as Israel's capital, as well as a still undisclosed White House plan that was already rejected by the Palestinian leadership.

Glimpses of the plan suggest it sidelines or ignores the longstanding goal of Palestinian independence. A meeting next month in Bahrain aimed at rallying Arab economic support for the plan is being boycotted by the Palestinian Authority, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE are attending amid growing ties with Israel in the face of a shared enemy, Iran.

Speaking to leaders from OIC countries, King Salman opened the summit saying the world must fight the sources funding terrorism around the world.

He then said the alleged sabotage of four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in past weeks represents a "grave danger" to the security of maritime traffic and regional security.

He blamed Iranian-backed terrorist militias of being behind a subsequent drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline.

"We emphasize that these subversive terrorist acts are aimed not only at the kingdom and the Gulf region, but also at the security of navigation and energy supplies to the world," King Salman said.

Iran denies being involved in the incidents.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had his own message for OIC leaders ahead of the summit, urging them to stay focused on the rights of Palestinians.

In a letter published online Friday, Rouhani said Muslim leaders should not let the importance of Palestinian statehood to be "marginalized" in the face of the Trump administration's forthcoming Israeli-Palestinian plan.

Rouhani also noted in the letter he was not invited to the Islamic summit, but expressed Iran's readiness to work with all Muslim leaders to confront the White House's so-called "deal of the century."

King Salman told OIC leaders that Palestinians rights are still the cornerstone issue of the organization, which was formed 50 years ago.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said any peace deal that does not include an independent and sovereign Palestinian state along 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital will be rejected by the OIC body.

"We shall not accept the rewriting of history, exchanging justice with economic benefits and disregarding dignity and legitimacy," he told the OIC summit.

The meeting began after midnight and ran into the early hours of Saturday due to evening prayers and day-long fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

Saudi Arabia's effort to bring leaders to Mecca reflects the kingdom's desire to project a unified Muslim and Arab position on Iran to isolate it internationally.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Tehran regrets "Saudi Arabia's abuse of its privilege as the host" of the OIC "to sow division between Islamic and regional countries."

The summit follows two emergency Arab meetings the night before in Mecca criticizing Iran's behavior and influence in countries like Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

Presenting a unified stance on Iran faces obstacles within OIC member-states, including Iran. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is attending the summit, has sought good ties with both Saudi Arabia and Iran, for example.

The leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group told supporters in Lebanon on Friday that the Mecca summits are a Saudi call for help from Arab countries after Saudi Arabia failed to win in Yemen, where the kingdom and its allies have been at war since 2015 against Iranian-allied Yemeni rebels.

"It is a sign of failure," Hassan Nasrallah said. "These summits are calls for help ... that express the failure and the inabilities in confronting the Yemeni army, popular resistance and people."

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Ibrahim al-Assaf made the comments at a meeting of foreign ministers of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation ahead of a series of summits in the kingdom that began on Thursday.

Al-Assaf said the alleged sabotage of boats off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and a drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels requires the region to "make more efforts to counter the terrorist acts of extremist and terrorist groups."

"We should confront it with all means of force and firmness," al-Assaf said.

Iran has denied being involved in the attacks, which come amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S. An Iranian official was at the meeting where al-Assaf spoke on Thursday, but Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif did not attend.

The U.S. has accused Tehran of being behind the string of incidents this month, which also included a rocket strike near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

On Wednesday, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton told journalists in Abu Dhabi that there had been a previously unknown attempt to attack the Saudi oil port of Yanbu as well, which he also blamed on Iran.

Bolton described Tehran's decision to back away from its 2015 atomic deal with world powers as evidence it sought nuclear weapons, even though it came a year after America unilaterally withdrew from the unraveling agreement.

He also stressed the U.S. had not seen any further Iranian attacks in the time since, something he attributed to the subsequent military deployments – the U.S. recently sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf. But Bolton warned the U.S. would strike back if again attacked.

"The point is to make it very clear to Iran and its surrogates that these kinds of action risk a very strong response from the United States," Bolton threatened, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Wednesday, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said some 900 troops coming to the Middle East over the perceived Iran threat – to reinforce the tens of thousands already in the region – would be deployed in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Another 600 attached to a Patriot missile battery have had their deployment in the region extended.

"The Iranian threat to our forces in the region remains," Shanahan said.

Bolton's trip to the UAE comes just days after Trump in Tokyo appeared to welcome negotiations with Iran.

"We're not looking for regime change – I just want to make that clear," Trump said. "We're looking for no nuclear weapons."

But Bolton himself, for years before becoming national security adviser, called for overthrowing Iran's government in interviews and in a paid speaking engagement before an Iranian exile group.

"I don't back away from any of it. Those are positions I took as a private citizen," Bolton said when asked about his prior remarks. "Right now I'm a government official. I advise the president. I'm the national security adviser, not the nation's security decision-maker. It's up to him to make those decisions."

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